TalkSport owner UTV conducted an internal investigation and sacked Whale before Ofcom had finished its own investigation.

UTV described the incident as “very unfortunate”.

The station said in a statement: “We have investigated the matter and after serious consideration, the station reached the decision that there was a clear breach of the rules and that we had no choice but to terminate his contract. James Whale is guilty of a gross error of judgment which we found to be totally unacceptable.”

In a statement on his website, Whale described the recent events as “somewhat unplanned, to say the least”.

Max Rushden has temporarily replaced Whale while the station looks for a permanent replacement. The Ofcom investigation is still open.